


the moonlight also leaks between the roof planks of this ruined house

by elegantidler



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 17:19:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13745667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elegantidler/pseuds/elegantidler
Summary: A late night discussion about their pasts and the people who affected them





	the moonlight also leaks between the roof planks of this ruined house

**Author's Note:**

> For Lisa, with all my gratitude

They are up too late, sitting, laying, pressed close together on the couch in front of a dying fire. 

Ed is laying with his head on Oswald’s lap, engrossed in the book propped up on his chest. Oswald is staring absently at the fire, one hand propping up his chin, the other curled over Ed, tracing patterns on his collar bone, his own book abandoned in the arm of the couch. 

Slowly growing aware of the absence of turning pages from Oswald, Ed looks up at him. 

“I’m lucky to some, and though I barely count, one of me is worth nearly two.” 

Oswald blinks several times tearing his gaze away from the fire and looks down at Ed. 

“Sorry, what?” 

“A penny. For your thoughts. What are you thinking about so intently?” Ed asks reaching up for Oswald’s other hand, twisting their fingers together. 

“I was thinking about Jim Gordon.”

“What about him?” Ed asks, tensing slightly in annoyance. 

Oswald’s gaze drifts back to the dying fire.

“Something Barbara said the other night about our previous alliances. An offhand remark I’m sure, but…I think I may have liked him more than I thought I did. I did a lot for him. Much more than I could have ever possibly hoped to gain in return. I thought he would be a beneficial ally to have one day but he never paid back any of the favors I did for him." 

Oswald's anger flares. 

"I went to Arkham for him.”

Ed squeezes his hand gently to bring him back to the peace of the present moment. Pushing himself up into a sitting position next to Oswald he pulls both of Oswald’s hands into his lap. 

“One day,” he says as Oswald turns to look at him, “Jim Gordon will be gone from our lives entirely and we will still be here, together, and he will be nothing more than a worthless blip in our pasts.” 

Oswald smiles fondly at him, anger fading and pulls his hands up to press a light kiss on Ed’s knuckles. 

“Do you ever look back on something and see it differently?” He asks.

Ed considers this, tilting his head in thought. 

“I kept telling myself I was just looking for a mentor in you, that you were a fascinating puzzle to figure out. But I think sometime between that day in the GCPD and when I found you in the woods I felt more than that, even if I couldn’t quite understand it yet.” 

He pauses, steeling himself and rushes forward remembering something he’d tried to forget. 

“And there was a boy I went to school with. We used to go exploring in the park looking for interesting animals and I remember thinking for the first time that maybe kissing wouldn’t be so gross if you were doing it with the right person. But according to my father boys only like girls so I picked a girl to try and like and tried to forget about him and the longer I pretended the harder it got to forget until—well you know how that ended.” 

He knows he is talking too fast but this is the first time he’s managed to talk about this and he wants to get it out before he loses his nerve. 

And abruptly Oswald is hugging him tightly. 

“I’m sorry that happened to you. But you’re still here and we’re together and you are worth so much more than what your past did to you.” 

Ed hugs him back and buries his head in Oswald’s neck.

“I think that’s enough late night talk for tonight,” Oswald says, standing up and pulling Ed up behind him. 

“We should get to bed.” 

Later, in bed, when they are laying curled together and the lights are off, Ed whispers to the dark room.

“Do you think we’ll ever be able to look back at our pasts and be okay?” 

Oswald pulls him closer. 

“I hope so.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from a translation of Although The Wind by Izumi Shikibu (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48700/although-the-wind-)


End file.
